Firebender
by Casketta
Summary: Your parents were foolish earth benders; it is always a curse to have a first-born who does not wield the same element they do.


Firebender

Every day was the same for Mako and Bolin; the two would help out in the little shack called home with their mother and father. Mother did most of the cooking and that just happened to be what Mako enjoyed about his childhood the most. He was able to cook with his mother, be able to share those fond moments with her. Bolin was always helping his father move things; since he was an earth bender himself he found that the tasks were always easier. Mako helped light up their stove for his mother, who always applauded him- regardless if he put too much or too little fire into the stove.

Everything was perfect.

On Mako's ninth birthday, their celebration was long and meaningful. It started with Mako being given a beautiful red woven scarf that belonged to his father- it was almost like a heirloom in the family where the first born would obtain an article of clothing from the father, and here it happened to be his father's scarf. His mother baked him a small little cake where he shared it with Bolin. It was early afternoon when they were finished, and Mako was helping his mother with some chores when he heard it.

Knocking on the door.

Mako's father made a move to answer it and once the piece of wood was opened his father was hit with a flaming barrage right in the chest. Mako stared in horror as he watched the bravest, courageous and loving man in the world drop to the ground. In a feeble attempt, his father tried to raise an earth wall to save himself- but that didn't work. The large firebender seemed to break it in half with a simple kick.

In a last attempt, Mako turned only to see his mother kicking a ball of rock towards the mysterious man. It hit him, enough to stun him and that was when Mako was hoisted into the air and felt the wind on his back. They were running, and Mako didn't want to leave! His dad was still there! He fought against his mother in vain, trying to get down so he could fight the firebender who had tried to hurt his dad!

Frantically, his mother kicked down their back door and continued to run with her eldest in her arms. Now, she needed to find Bolin, but then she remembered he had left for the market with the neighbour, and they could have been on their way back. Kaelee struggled to try and keep her eldest from getting out of her tight embrace as she started to bend the earth with her feet, trying to find some way of escaping.

"_Mommy please- I need to help Daddy! Mom, mom please!" _He begged, but his mother wouldn't answer. He was screaming, crying, sobbing, he was hysterical. Once Mako finally got out of the reaches of his mother, he turned around only to see a flash of red pass by his face. When he looked back at his mother, she was on the ground, breathing heavily and crying.

Mako turned, and he saw that man.

Enraged, he tried to attack back, shooting small bursts of fire from his closed hands. He tried kicked, but he found that the man had his on his back in a matter of seconds, this other was clearly more skilled than he was. The man, however, left Mako alone as he slowly made his way to Kaelee, who was just struggling to sit up. She was in searing amounts of pain and before she could utter a single word, she was screaming.

_Screaming for help._

Mako had just sat up and turned around to see what had happened and he watched helplessly as the firebender unleash a fury of fire onto his mother, onto his innocent mother. Tears filled his face as he struggled to stand and run back into the house, screaming all the way. He was _terrified._

When he got inside, he ran for his father, who had managed to sit himself up against the walls of their house. His father, thankfully, was still breathing, and it was in laboured pants and gasps for whatever life left.

"M...Mako... Where's... where is your mother..." He asked, and that set Mako off again. He clung onto one of his father's arms and continued to sob, to the point where his entire body shook just from a gasp. From that, Lee-Jin was able to understand what had happened. Blood gushed from his mother from a few sudden coughs, and he couldn't help but to try and pat Mako's head in a compassionate way. This was not how it was supposed to go...

"_M...ko... please... look after your... br-brother... H-He-"_

Suddenly, the firebender was back, flames adorned in each hand. Mako, in a brave attempt, stood up and held his arms out, in a protective manner.

"_DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!" _He screamed through his tears and the firebender was slightly taken a-back.This, however, did not scare him, and the firebender shot a blast of fire at Mako, who had actually managed to block most of it. His usually shaggy hair had been singed where the man could get a better glimpse at the eyes Mako held, those _golden-ember_ eyes. Mako couldn't help but to cough and try to get out any embers left in his hair and suddenly he found himself rushing through the air and onto the ground.

The man took this time to stretch out his already extended leg that had sent Mako on his journey back to their kitchen as he turned back to Lee-Jin. "You never paid." He accused as he shot fire into the ground next to the shaking man.

"I paid you last week... A-all of it." He reassured, and the man scoffed.

Without even a second remark or comeback, the firebender glanced towards Mako in a deadly fashion. The small boy was still trying to stand, even as his burnt rags were trying to fall off his own body. He looked up, innocently and horrified as the firebender slowly turned his head back to Lin-Jin.

He unleashed the same attack he did on his mother.

Mako watched, again in terror, as the man burnt his father just like his mother, as if it was no issue at all. He heard the piercing scream of his father as the image completely ingrained itself into his eyes. He just laid there, sobbing hysterical as he was _helpless and_ _useless. _

Once the man was finally finished ending his father's life, he slowly walked up to Mako and grabbed him by the back of his head, where it was still long. Their golden eyes connected before the man sneered at the young boy.

"Your parents were foolish earth benders; it is always a curse to have a first-born who does not wield the same element they do." Once Mako registered what he meant, suddenly the lights went black.

Mako suddenly jolted from his sleep, sweat dripping from his forehead and his head pounding like a drum. He looked around the room, almost scared that the same man was sitting right there, whispering the words to him.

He sighed shakily as he looked down at his hands, the hands that could disperse the very element that destroyed his parents. His parents were just poor earth benders who had done nothing wrong, it must have been a case of mistaken identity. They paid everything on time, their work was tedious but they were still able to do so.

Mako covered his face and felt as if he was going to cry at this very moment and that his tears would somehow seep themselves into the earth and find the bodies of their parents, where they could be reborn; somehow.

Before he could even try and muster out a word, a pair of strong arms wrapped around him a very comforting aura. He looked around as the tears started to flow down his face and he realized who it was. _Bolin._

In that instant, he let it all down, he let down the guard he had been fighting to keep up for so many years. He wrapped an arm around Bolin as he sobbed hysterically to his younger brother. Bolin didn't even need to say a word; he could tell this was all Mako needed. He needed to cry, to cry out everything he was holding inside.

What seemed to be hours later, Mako was finally at peace, well sort of. His eyes were red and puffy, and he didn't seem coherent enough to finally be able to speak. His throat was raw from the heavy sobs he had to endure, and he just sat there lifeless as Bolin tried to coax him.

"Man, I have never seen you like this before... Are... Are you really okay Mako...?" Bolin asked timidly, he was being careful not to pry.

"I just... had a really bad dream Bolin."

"Bro, nothing shakes you up that badly- not even Amon or even Tahno!"

"...L-Look, Bo... It isn't that bad..." Mako was desperate to try and shake the subject down, he just wanted to go back to sleep. It wasn't until Bolin spoke again that Mako froze in his spot.

"You yelled out dad's name..."

And that was where Mako felt like he broke in half. He looked up at Bolin, unable to conjure up any sort of words. Bolin gave him a sympathetic look, and hugged him again, this time for a short while. Mako was currently trying to figure out how he could tell Bolin this lightly, but there was no way too.

"Did... I ever tell you I watched both Mom... a-and Dad... _die...?" _ He asked as he watched Bolin's face contort with complete horror. "N...no... You said... You said you left and when you came back they were... dead..."

"I lied Bo... I had too..."

"Mako, I'm older now, can't you just tell me what happened to them? I need to know too, for my sake and yours."

After a few minutes of pausing, Mako began his explanation of what had happened. "It was my ninth birthday, and we had just finished celebrating. You left with our neighbour Hano to go to the mark while I stayed behind with Mom and Dad. Suddenly, a man came to the door and Dad answered... and suddenly, this man through a ball of flames at him. Mom grabbed me and we started to run out the back door... I got out of Mom's arms and suddenly she fell and I tried to stop him Bo... I got hit and... I watched him kill Mom in front of me..."

Bolin just stared completely in awe, he was more than shocked. There wasn't even a word to describe the pain that flashed across Bolin's face as guilt started to climb onto his expression.

"I ran back... ran back for Dad... A-and he t-t..." Mako stopped himself as he wiped his eyes again and tried to finish his sentence, "T-told me t-to take care of you Bo... Then that man came back and hit me a-away... and killed D-Dad... in f-front of me..." Mako's hands started to shake as he laced his own fingers together as he tried to swallow what he had to say next. This was what hurt Mako the most; this was what the reason why Mako sometimes regretted being a fire bender.

"He told me... before I passed out... th...that... it was a _curse_ f...for earth benders to have a first born who does not share the... the same element..." He muttered, as he started to cry again. Even though it hurt to cry, he still did so and Bolin was left sitting in complete shock. Mako had been through so much; psychologically he was damaged off by heart.

Quietly, Bolin just hugged Mako once again and tried to calm down his obviously hurt brother. The fact that watching your parents die in front of you was bad enough, the fact that they were killed by the same element he wielded but the ending to the nightmare had damaged Mako, but not beyond repair. This was his first step, his first step towards healing- a brighter future.

Bolin held his older brother until the firebender was fast asleep, and not having any sort of wicked, foul dreams. Quietly, Bolin tucked him back into bed and watched him, just for a second, to see if he would be okay. Mako's breathing had returned to normal and he was sleeping ever so calmly. Bolin's smile grew on his face as he wiped his own tears from his vibrant green eyes.

Mako had seen too much, and Bolin was going to be there to help him recover.


End file.
